CAS CONNECT 2016

OSU student reporters Kaelynn Knoernschi ld and Cody Stavenhagen worked around-the-clock at the 2016 Hearst Foundat ion Journal ism Awards to produce three chal lenging art icles. “I t’s a story you never want to write.” Even if it leads to a national award? Cody Stavenhagen, a recently gradu- ated sports media major from Oklahoma State University, still would have preferred a normal day of covering a Homecoming football game over adding a trophy to his mantle. On Oct. 24, 2015, Stavenhagen and class- mate Kaelynn Knoernschild produced memorable cover- age of the car crash at the Homecoming parade that killed four people and injured more than 40. Due to their commendable report- ing, the two were selected to compete at the 2016 William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards in San Francisco. The annual compe- tition recognizes the finest student journalism in the country. The fact that two OSU students were among eight finalists in the writing cate- gory to attend the competi- tion in California speaks to their mature handling of a tragic event as well as the O’Colly’ s surging presence among national heavyweights. OSU finished third in the writ- ing category after placing 10 th in 2015 (the first year OSU cracked the top 10). Barbara Allen, director of student media at OSU, says students who have actively pursued positions in student media are proving to be successful. “You find that students who take advantage of opportu- nities in student media tend to get better awards, better internships and when they graduate, there are a variety of job offers out there,” Allen says. Stavenhagen and Knoernschild were selected from 1,261 entrants from 108 colleges and universi- ties with accredited under- graduate journalism schools. Stavenhagen (who became the first OSU student to compete in the event in 2015) won the Sports Writing qualifier for his article, “And Then There Was a Football Game,” while Knoernschild won the Breaking News Writing qual- ifier for her article, “ ‘I can’t recall an incident of this magnitude’: Community mourns after homecoming parade.” In addition to the Out of Tragedy, Honor Homecoming crash coverage takes 2 O’Colly staffers to national contest By Brian Petrotta Photos: Jakub Moser and Erin Lubin